


The West

by bobtheacorn



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Gen, Katara's just here to sass tbh but she speaks so she gets tagged, a little introspective + a firebending lesson, sort of WIPish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-20 10:30:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9487304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobtheacorn/pseuds/bobtheacorn
Summary: The Western Air Temple is graced with an almost constant breeze; from the flat plains above, the wind sweeps down the walls of the ravine and into the open spaces of the temple.  It tugs, light and playful, at whatever lies in its path, presses with determination into even the furthest corners of hidden rooms.  It makes the place feel alive somehow, even Zuko senses that.  He'd thought something similar the first time he came here, so certain that this is where he would find the Avatar and end his search before it truly began.He wasn't entirely wrong.  He did find the Avatar here.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this about 4 (?) years ago when I was super into ATLA again and?? have no idea where I might have been taking it??? so it's "WIPish" in the sense that it isn't necessarily complete, but as there's nothing in particular happening anyway (as always, i'm such a boring writer lmao) I think it stands up well enough on it's own like it is for now.

The Western Air Temple is graced with an almost constant breeze; from the flat plains above, the wind sweeps down the walls of the ravine and into the open spaces of the temple.  It tugs light and playful at whatever lies in its path, presses with determination into even the furthest corners of hidden rooms.  It makes the place feel alive somehow, even Zuko senses that.  He'd thought something similar the first time he came here, so certain that this is where he would find the Avatar and end his search before it truly began.

He wasn't entirely wrong.  He did find the Avatar here.

And it's not lost on anyone of them that Aang thrives in this environment. 

The young airbender flits from one vast room to the next when he's not tied down with his training.  He's eager to share his heritage and culture with his friends, to show them all the places that he alone remembers in the hopes that his people will not be forgotten. Zuko is quieted in these moments, when he is dragged along for the history lesson (partially against his will, and fully against Katara's, though Aang doesn't (or chooses not to) notice when their respective enthusiasm plummets). Most of everything the banished prince knows about the other nations has been fabricated by his own, the Air Nomads most of all, but he's not entirely willing just yet to admit that he's curious.

Certainly not in front of Katara, where he'll only earn himself her biting comments and mean looks, regardless of what he says or how honestly he says it.  He knows he deserves her mistrust - it's the least he deserves - but all the same he'd rather she pretend he didn't exist at all.  The open hostility puts an ill, familiar feeling in his chest.

It's hard to ignore that he's not entirely welcome here, either.

-x-

Late in the morning, Katara assigns everyone chores for the day.  Haru, The Duke, and Teo have been assigned washing-duty (something productive for them to do, under Katara's watchful eye, of course).  Sokka gets his fishing gear together and Toph goes along with him, pushing a tunnel into the mountainside so neither of them have to climb.  Aang snaps his glider open to go gather more firewood, an empty cloth sack swung loosely around his front and his lemur clinging to the back of his robes.  Katara sends the three miscreants off to gather up everyone's clothes and starts pulling up the blankets and sleeping bags herself, making her way through the small camp.

Zuko stands off to the side, waiting and watching as the others disband, his hands clasped behind his back.

When it becomes clear that Katara is finished issuing her commands, that uncomfortable feeling begins to swell in his chest.  The waterbender is set upon the task before her, shaking the bedrolls vigorously before tossing them over the crook of her arm, dropping them into a tidy pile when it becomes too big of a burden to carry.

She steadfastly ignores him.

Zuko clears his throat and tentatively approaches where she's kneeling, grimacing over her brother's smelly bed roll.

"Um.  Katara - "  She stiffens when he says her name, whips her head around to level him with a glare that makes him come up short.  He takes a swift step back, put off, but determined to show her that he's ready and willing to help in any way he can, though he fumbles with the words, "Was there... anything you wanted me to do?  I could - help -"

"Could you not betray us?"  She's quick to ask, so sweet it makes his teeth hurt, with a wide smile that doesn't fool anyone, "That'd be great!"

She turns on Sokka's sleeping bag, taking her animosity out on it as she rolls it up, her hands gripping the fabric tight, her movements clipped and agitated.  Zuko shrinks back to give her space, unsure of how to proceed.  It's then he feels a breeze tug sharply at the back of his clothes and hair, and turns to see Aang peeking around one of the pillars near the fountain.  He catches Zuko's eye, makes a theatrical, grimacing apology with his face and jerks his chin before quickly disappearing.

Zuko hesitates, glances back at Katara, who is aggressively slinging dust and pebbles his way as she shakes out the Duke's bedroll.  He side-steps his way over to the pillar.  Aang is waiting with his glider open, his flying lemur chattering noisily as it rummages around in the empty sack, winding around the airbender's waist and shoulders.

"It's okay, Zuko," Aang says with a lopsided smile, unbothered by his pet and blessed with boundless optimism.  He shrugs his narrow shoulders, raises a hand.  "You can help me get some firewood."

Zuko eyes the glider warily, wondering if Aang intends to fly them both up the cliffside on that flimsy-looking thing.

"Alright," he says, resigned to his fate.

-x-

Being out in the sun for the first time in a few days makes Zuko keenly aware of just how drafty and cool the temple is, almost cave-like in it's setting deep beneath the cliffs.  And Zuko doesn't mind the cold - maybe it's the fire inside of him - but he still prefers the forest's humid atmosphere.  He fills his lungs with the warm air, exhales slowly, feeling some semblance of peace setting in.  Aang, walking alongside him, perceives the sigh as his new companion's perpetual world-weariness and takes it upon himself to lift Zuko's spirits.

"Don't worry," he says, leaning into Zuko's shoulder, "Katara's actually super nice!  She'll come around eventually."

Zuko snorts at that.

"If you say so," he says, because he's expected to say something.

"It'll just take some time."  Aang is assured of this one thing, if nothing else, and turns his eyes upward.  "Now, let's see about getting some firewood."

He hands over his staff without looking at Zuko, knowing he'll take it without any prompting - and Zuko does, watching Aang extend his arms and spin, swinging himself effortlessly up into the highest branches of the nearest tree as if it's the most natural thing in the world for him.  A moment later he's vanished among the greenery.  His lemur, disgruntled by the sudden flight, glides down from between the leaves and perches on top of Aang's staff.

For a few seconds, Zuko waits, but he's never had much in the way of patience.

"What're you doing up there?" he snaps, bewildered because he's literally surrounded by trees that would make decent firewood, but Aang has taken to climbing them, instead.

There's rustling from above.

"Sorry!  I found one!" Aang calls down, and drops into view a moment later, his left foot and hand hooked around a thin branch several feet above Zuko's head.  He points with his other hand, brimming over with enthusiasm.  "It's this way."

He promptly swings himself out of view again with a gentle gust of wind.  Following the fleeting pull of the breeze, Zuko takes a few steps forward, eyes scanning the canopy.  Aang's head pokes through further off to his right; he beckons with one hand, then disappears again, "Come on, Zuko!"  The lemur takes off with an excited chatter, gliding in and out among the trees, and Zuko follows at a jog.  He picks up on the rustling flow of the leaves easily enough, the glimpses of orange and yellow in the green, though Aang for the most part remains out of sight.

It reminds Zuko of just how elusive the airbender is - he's quick, even when he's just playing a silly game.

When Aang finally drops to the ground, it's in the narrow shade of a large oak tree that's standing slightly apart from the others, dry and dead and looking out-of-place.  Aang leaps right into it, bending the air around him with swift, circular movements to create a scythe.  He cuts a branch that's twice his size free of the trunk, lands lightly on his toes as it thumps into the dirt.  The lemur lands on it the moment it settles, climbing along the broad limb and reaching into the narrow cracks, chasing the bugs disturbed by the fall.  Aang steps up right behind it and starts snapping off the smaller branches with his hands, tucking them into the sack around his shoulders for kindling.

Zuko watches, hands propped on his hips.

"You brought us all the way out here just for a dried up old tree?" he asks in disbelief and gestures at the surrounding forest.  It's not outrageous, but he doesn't understand.  "There were plenty of trees near the cliffside."

Aang pauses with his hand on a thin branch.

"Well, yeah," he says, "But there's no point in cutting down a tree that's still growing when we can find one like this."

He snaps the branch free at the base and carries on.  Zuko wonders if it's an Avatar thing, or an airbender thing, but doesn't protest further.  Once Aang has most of the smaller branches cleared away, he stoops to pry up his lemur, who is shoulder-deep in the branch after a particularly elusive beetle.  The lemur ( _ "Come on, Momo, there are plenty of other bugs out there." _ ) claws frantically at the bark, but eventually gives in to defeat, hanging limply in the Avatar's hand as he comes to stand beside Zuko.

Zuko raises a hand, motioning for space, and Aang obliges, sliding back.

Zuko takes his stance, pulls in a slow, deep breath.  Releasing it in a burst of heat, he steps forward, arms pushing the fire out from his center, condensing and pressing it into a thin line that burns and smolders along the center of the branch.  Smoke curls up, filling the air with the sharp scent of wood.  Zuko keeps his breathing slow, hands steady; the cinders chew rapidly through to the other side until the log splits with a crackling pop that echoes through the trees.

Aang watches with his mouth open, claps his hands and grins, "Nice one, Sifu Hotman!"

Zuko chooses to ignore the dated slang.

"Now you do it," he says as he turns on the young airbender, and Aang balks at the unexpected command.

"Um.  But you already did it," he blurts out, gesturing at the parted log.

"We'll have an easier time carrying this back if it's in smaller pieces," Zuko says, pointing to two places along the log, where it needs to be cut short-ways into fours, then sixes.  He finds that instruction comes surprisingly easy; in hindsight, if he's good at anything, it's giving orders.  "Cut it here first, then here.  Don't be nervous, and keep your breathing under control - if you let the flames get away from you and consume the log, you'll just have to do it again."

The promise of repetition for a seemingly difficult task is also pretty good incentive for a kid.

Aang groans and huffs and scuffs his foot in the dirt - he wasn't expecting a firebending lesson - but he lifts the sack from his shoulder and steps forward all the same.  Momo follows the sack down as Aang drops it, rummaging through the sticks, still looking for bugs.  Moving to the foot of the log where he can observe Aang's movements from a respectable distance, Zuko crosses his arms and waits.  Aang falls quickly into the quiet calm he needs, takes a few deep breaths and slides his feet apart.  He makes his fire first, palm out as he moves it from his chest to his shoulder, circling down to his hip then across his front to his other open palm.  From there he pushes the fire out, bends his knees and closes his fingers together.

The flames lick at the bark as they form a ring around the trunk, leaving it darker than before.  When Aang breathes out through his nose, frowning in concentration, the flames grow unexpectedly.  To his credit, the young airbender doesn't flinch back - just takes in another breath and moves his hands, the flames shrinking into a small heat that slowly works it's way through the log.  They've only been firebending for a few days, and he's not as comfortable with the element as he is with the others; he isn't shy of handling the flames anymore, but he still favors being cautious.  Zuko knows how dangerous it can be when fire gets away from you, so he lets Aang be as cautious as he wants.

They're under a time constraint, but the more opportunities he has to work with it, the easier it will come.

As it is, it takes Aang much longer to get all the way through, where Zuko did it in a matter of seconds.  His heat keeps fluctuating, the flames waxing and waning.  He shifts his feet and moves his hands, growing impatient and tired as the task wears on, aware that he's taking longer than he should be, though Zuko never says anything.  When the log finally cracks, jumping apart, Aang lets the flames die at once and relaxes, a huge breath wooshing out of him.

He's sweating, rubbing his palms on the seat of his pants.

"You made it look so easy," he despairs, eyebrows knotted as he looks at Zuko.

"Maybe it will be easier the second time around," Zuko says without missing a beat, pointing at the other place he wants the log cut.

Aang regards him skeptically.

"I think I need a minute," he says, trying to wheedle out of doing it right away.

Zuko crosses his arms and looks intimidating.

"You don't have a minute."

Aang cringes, "Okay, okay!  It's not like it's going anywhere. "  He takes a deep breath and moves down the log, flexing his fingers and waving his hands to loosen up.  His fire comes quicker this time and he learns from his mistakes without Zuko even having to point them out, still fresh in his mind from the first time he did it. It wasn't pointless praise before, when Zuko told him he was a smart kid.  It's no small wonder he was already a master of airbending age twelve - proficient enough to earn his tattoos.

He cuts through the log in half the time, beaming when he straightens up, lowering his hands.

Zuko tilts his head and offers, "Not bad."

 


End file.
